Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

January 12, 2024

Chronic mental illness is a horrific disease. It obliterates hope, it robs you of your dignity, your ability to function, and any semblance of quality of life. It’s a horrible way to live; it’s a living death. For some, it’s an unsustainable existence. Is chronic mental illness curable? I don’t believe it is. The condition can be managed, people can experience remission for extended periods of time, but I do not think the disease ever completely resolves.

I recently saw Anderson Cooper and Ashley Judd talking about Naomi Judd’s suicide. Naomi had used a firearm. Ashley was with her mother at the end, holding her as she passed. She told Anderson, “Even when I walked in that room and I saw that she had harmed herself, the first thing out of my mouth was, ‘Momma, I see how much you’ve been suffering, and it is okay… I am here, and it is okay to let go.’”

We are living in a time when there is more awareness of suicide prevention than ever before. And it’s important that we, as individuals and as a society, value human life. But the issue is much bigger than the sanctity of life. I’m not advocating suicide, not by any stretch, but it cannot be assumed that requiring a person to remain living and in the world is necessarily always what is best and good and right. There are quality of life issues that in…